"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭."
1 | A JEDI, YET A PRINCESS
HERA ROSE BEILLANE STOOD IN THE JEDI TRAINING ROOM, at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She held her crystal blue lightsaber, that was more white than blue, in her right hand as she held it protectively in front of her. A practice droid flew around above her as she tuned into the force.
She watched with hawk eyes as the droid moved around her, waiting for her guard to be taken down.
Her white Jedi wrapped robes hung loosely on her slightly curved body, yet the robes clung to her curves. Her white combat boots were laced up tight, making sure they wouldn't fall off, like they had most of the times. Her blonde hair was tied back into a half up half down braid with her front wiskies framing her face. Her Padawan braid, that represented her part in the Jedi Order, laid on her right shoulder. She had a light blue rubber band that symbolized the first time she had gotten her Padawn Braid, and another a little further down to show her hair growth over the years.
The practice droid then let out a series of shots that were aimed towards Hera. Hera deflected multiple before doing a side arial and landing on one foot as she spun around. Her lightsaber whipped through the hair, leaving a small blue hue behind it, as she sliced the training droid in half, and she breathed heavily.
She had always been athletic and acrobatic. She used her physical skills to her advantage when she would duel with her Padawan companions.
Clapping was heard as Hera looked over to see her Master, Demaia Goldenburg, walking over as her brown Jedi robe covered her beige tunic and trousers. Her brown leather utility belt clung to her waist, and her silver lightsaber hilt swung above her right waist.
"Well done, Hera." Demaia commented as the young girl smiled and deactivated her lightsaber. "You seem to still know how to use a lightsaber. Despite constantly training to be good at acrobatics."
"Hey, I use my skills to my advantages." Hera whined as she bent down to pick up the cut practice droid.
"Well, at this rate, you'll be the only Jedi who fights without a lightsaber." Demaia said with a smirk as she crossed her arms.
Demaia had been more like an older sister to Hera rather than a master or even a parental figure. Demaia was only in her mid twenties, and she became a Jedi Knight and took Hera in at the age of 19, being one of the youngest Jedi Knights in the order.
"Oh, ha ha." Hera said sarcastically as she stood up with broken droid, and she placed it on a conveyer belt for it to be taken to get fixed for the next trainee. "I don't think you would come see me train on our break day."
"You were always very smart when it comes to looking into me." Demaia said as she smiled proudly. "The Council has decided to send us on a mission, and we're set to leave in the morning."
"When did this happen?" Hera questioned as she walked over to a bench that held her stuff, and she began to pack up her things.
"Just an hour ago." Demaia said, beginning to pace in thought. "An illegal blockade has been forced onto Naboo, the Chancellor requests us, along with Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi, to go and hopefully negotiate and take the blockade away from Naboo."
"Why wasn't I invited to the meeting?" Hera asked, glancing at her Master as she wrapped up her wrist that had been injured in a recent mission, and she needed to wear the rap due to the dried blood that could peal off and cause her to bleed out.
"It was very private. No one else is allowed to know about it except for the Council. Chancellor's orders." Demaia said, stopping and looking at her apprentice's back. "Even Obi-Wan wasn't brought, only the Council, Qui-Gon, and I were present."
"Sounds like the Chancellor, always so secretive." Hera said simply, as she zipped up her bag and threw it over his shoulder.
"Yes he is, but enough of that. Come to the hanger in the early morning." Demaia said as she and Hera walked towards the exit of the training room.
~~~
The next morning, the two female Jedis were sat in the cockpit of a Republic cruiser. They were now joined by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, as well as two pilots who sat in the captain and pilot seat. Hera and Demaia sat on the right side of the aisle, and the two men sat on the other side of the aisle.
Their hoods sat on all of their heads, all four of them being shades of brown from their Jedi Robes. The two masters and oldest Padawan all wore normal Jedi tunics, and Hera wore a two piece wrapped romper that exposed her knees, and her white thigh high boots.
"Captain." Qui-Gon's voice interrupted the silence in the cockpit.
"Yes, sir?" the Captain said, turning slightly in her chair to look at Qui-Gon.
"Tell them we sit to board at once." Qui-Gon continued.
"Yes, sir." the captain said, and she turned back to her view screen as Nute Gunray, leader of the Trade Federation, stood waiting for an answer or to be spoken to. "With all due respect for the Trade Federation, the Ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately."
"Yes, yes, of course... ahhh... as you know, our blockade is perfectly legal, and we'd be happy to receive the Ambassador..." Gunray stated, and the screen then went black as the cruiser neared the sinister battleship of the Trade Federation.
The cruiser boarding the battleship, and the ramp lowered to reveal the four hooded Jedis. They walked towards the nearby door, and it slid open to reveal a silver protocol droid.
"I am TC-14 at your service. This way, please." the droid, TC-14, said before gesturing for them to follow it.
Obi-Wan and Hera shared a nervous look as they glanced back at the ship before following their masters and the droid. The entered a large formal conference room where they walked into and looked around.
"I hope you honored sirs and misses with the most comfortable here. My master will be with you shortly." TC-14 told the four Jedis before walked out of the conference room, and once the door slid closed the four Jedi removed their hoods and turned away from the door.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan and Hera said in unison, Hera's coming out more as a mutter.
"I don't sense anything." Qui-Gon said simply.
"It's not about the mission, Master, it's something... elsewhere... elusive." Obi-Wan said as he and his master began walking towards the large window at the end of the room.
"Don't center your anxiety, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now where it belongs." Qui-Gon said wisely.
"Master Yoda said I should be mindful of the future." Obi-Wan argued as the two females took a seat across from each other at the large conference table.
"... but not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, my young Padawan." Qui-Gon said as they looked out at the green and blue planet of Naboo.
"Yes, Master..." Obi-Wan said as he looked down.
Silence corrupted the room as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan continued to look out.
"How do you think the trade viceroy will deal with the Chancellor's demands?" Hera asked, breaking the silence.
"These Federation types are cowards." Demaia said, and Hera chuckled.
Qui-Gon turned away from the window to face the two girls, while Obi-Wan continued to look out the window.
"The negotiations will be short." Qui-Gon assured the youngest girl, who nodded before looking down.
Eventually, the male Jedis sat down with the two females. Qui-Gon and Demaia sat on one side while the Padawans sat down across from their Masters. They waited for what seemed like hours at most.
"Is it in their nature to make us wait this long?" Obi-Wan questioned, slowly becoming impatient.
It was common for Padawans to become impatient when waiting during missions, however Hera was never one of those Padawans. She was a princess, so she was used to the boring meetings and long trials. This is why she didn't understand why Obi-Wan was becoming impatient with the wait.
"No... I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as this trade dispute." Qui-Gon explained, as TC-14 walked in with a tray of what looks to be drinks.
She walked over to the Jedi Padawans, as they both took a cup, and Obi-Wan took a sip. She then walked over to the Masters, and they also took a cup and a sip. The room fell into silence as Hera looked at her cup with a raised eyebrow, sensing something was wrong with her cup and her cup only. Hera only set hers down and slightly pushed it away from her.
After a few moments, an extremely loud boom, that shook the entirety of the ship, caused the four Jedi to jump from their seats and lightsabers were ignited in an instance. Qui-Gon's vibrant green lightsaber stood out from the rest of theirs, while blue hues shown from Demaia and Obi-Wan's laser sword. The lightest light shining from Hera's almost white lightsaber. TC-14 jumped back, startled, and the pitcher of water that was on the tray was knocked over and began to spill and drip onto the ground.
"Sorry!" TC-14 exclaimed as she looked at the puddle of water that was on the ground.
A greenish-white gas began to spill into the room from the ventilation system that filled the room. The four Jedi looked around in worry as they realized what the gas was.
"Dioxin!" Qui-Gon exclaimed as the gas filled the room.
The hiss of their lightsabers were heard, as Hera and Obi-Wan both took in a deep breathe, while the Masters just sucked in their breathes.
The doors slowly opened and the four Jedi stayed silent, and TC-14 walked out of the room nervously after gathering the spill water.
"Oh, excuse me." TC-14 said to someone outside the door, more specifically battle droids created by the Trade Federation.
"Check it out Corporal. We'll cover you." a light robotic voice came through the gas and smoke as the Jedi held their breathes and stayed silent.
"Roger, Roger." another deeper robotic voice said through the gas.
The Jedi then activated their lightsabers as the droids were then able to see the light coming from the sabers. The four Jedi then jumped from the smoke as the droids screamed in fear. They were sliced in oblivion, and Hera noticed a group of battle droids nearing them so she used the force to push them a hundred feet back. Once the set of droids were completely demolished, the four Jedi looked around in wonder on what to do next.
"Follow me." Hera stated as she began jogging down a hallways to their left.
She had studied the layouts of many different types of ships, and if she was correct, the main bridge was in the center of the entire ship.
They managed to find the main bridge, thanks to Hera's studies, and they were immediately surrounded by droids. There were only three ways to make it to the bridge, so the younger Jedis each took a direction, while Qui-Gon attempted to burn the door open. Hera took the left side, Demaia took the right, and Obi-Wan took the center. As the three young Jedi continued to block blaster bolts directed towards them, Hera glanced over her shoulder when a loud thud, mixed with a clank, was heard behind the doors. Qui-Gon pulled out his lightsaber from the crescent moon burn he had created in the door before stabbing it straight in the center, burning the door from the middle out.
"Master, destroyers!" Obi-Wan called out, getting Qui-Gon, Demaia, and Hera's attentions as they all turned towards the youngest man's corridor.
They continued to block the blast bolts, but it was no use against the destroyer's deflected shield.
"They have shield generators!" Hera exclaimed in realization.
"It's a standoff! Let's go!" Qui-Gon told the group, and suddenly the lightsaber were deactivated and the Jedi took off down the hallway they had come from using inhuman speed.
They found a ventilation vent as they continued to be shot at, and Hera was the last one in so she shut the vent behind them. After a few moments, the vent opened up into a larger room and they jumped from the ledge and continued to crouch down as they noticed they came into a hanger bay. However instead of just ships, there were lines and lines of battle droids and landing crafts. They crouched behind two fairly large crates, as they peaked through a gap between the two crates.
"Battle droids." Qui-Gon muttered in awe.
"It's an invisible army." Obi-Wan pointed out, and Hera gave him a look.
"No really, it's not like we could see it from here, and the fact no one knows about it." Hera said sarcastically causing Obi-Wan to glare at her.
"Just wanting to make sure you knew we were looking at." Obi-Wan said.
"I'm thirteen, not dumb." Hera said with a raised eyebrow.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at the girl.
Obi-Wan and Hera enjoyed their playful banter. After countless missions together, the two formed a brother-sister bond.
"This is an odd play for the Trade Federation. We've got to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum." Demaia said, stopping the two teens arguing.
"Stow aboard separate ships and meet down on the planet." Qui-Gon told the Padawans who nodded, and Hera then gained a mischievous smirk on her face.
"You were right about one thing, Masters. The negotiations were short." Hera said with a smirk, and Demaia sent a joking glare towards her Padawan.
~~~
A/N: So sorry I haven't updated. If you saw my message on my profile than you know I have been having troubles with my Wattpad for the past couple days and I have been having to update my stories from my phone which sucks.